Valentine's Box Book Reports 2014

This is only the second year that I have had my students complete Valentine's Box Book Reports, but it's quickly becoming one of my favorite classroom projects ever.  I personally love that it takes a tradition that we've done in classrooms for years (decorating shoe boxes for Valentine's Day), and it gives it an academic focus.  My third graders need more practice with literary terms like "climax" and "resolution", so I try to use the reports as a vehicle for reviewing some of those terms. I also like this project because, although the boxes are completed at home, it's not adding anything "extra" onto anyone's plates, because they would have been creating boxes anyway! Win-win!  I just love how they turned out.  Aren't they the cutest?!